Rochester & Monroe Co., NY

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Anniversary of First American Newspaper

On September 25, 1690 the first newspapers published in the US was published in Boston. Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick, was printed by Richard Pierce and edited by Benjamin Harris. It was only 6 x 10 inches and was 3 pages plus a blank page. The newspaper stated that it would issue the newspaper “once a month, or, if any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener.” Unfortunately only the one issue was ever printed. The Massachusetts Governor said that it was printed without authorization and pressured the printer to not make any further issues.

It would be 14 years before America’s second newspapers. John Campbell, a bookseller appointed Postmaster of Boston, was the editor. His newspaper was the Boston News-Letter and the first issue was dated Monday, April 17 to April 24, 1704. This was to be the first continuously published newspaper in the US.